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Karel František Koecher (21 September 1934 in
Bratislava) is the
only mole
known to have penetrated the CIA. Born in Czechoslovakia, he became a radio comedy
writer and was allegedly frequently scrutinized by the Communist security forces for his satire that mocked the regime
(this turned out to be a pre-planned "cover story"). He officially
joined the Czechoslovakian intelligence service in 1962.

Because of his English language skills, Koecher was
selected to become a mole in the West. In 1965 he and his wife,
Hana Koecher, seemingly defected to the West, moving to the United States.
Koecher became an American citizen in 1970. After several years as
a sleeper he was
hired by the CIA as a translator/analyst in 1973 due to his fake
dissident credentials and skills in a number of Eastern European
languages. He was given high level security clearance and given the
job of translating and analyzing documents handed over by CIA
agents and transcripts of wiretaps and bugs. He quickly became one the USSR's best
sources of information, allowing them to mount effective defense
against CIA covert actions.

In 1975, however, Koecher was summoned back to a meeting with KGB head of counter-intelligence, Oleg Kalugin. One of
Koecher's own "smoke stories" claimed that after testing Koecher,
Kalugin argued that he was in fact a double agent and his information could not
be trusted. Koecher then retired, leaving the CIA for a post in academia. By the end of the
1970s Koecher was rehabilitated by the KGB.

In 1980, with growing tensions due to the election of Ronald Reagan,
Koecher was one of a number of agents reactivated. He returned to
work part-time for the CIA. Although the FBI asserts that it was at that time
already on to him, no action was taken against him. To this day,
neither the FBI nor the CIA will reveal what alerted them to
Koecher's treachery. Koecher and other KGB officials believe it was
Kalugin. The whole "Kalugin intermezzo" was never independently
confirmed and is known as "Koecher version" of the events.

The FBI apprehended Koecher and brought him and, soon
afterwards, his wife in for several days of questioning. Finally,
Koecher agreed to become a double agent working for the Americans,
provided that they agreed to grant him immunity from prosecution.
This was done and Koecher attempted to convince the FBI that he was
cooperating.

However, it was then decided that Koecher was not reliable
enough to be a double agent and was likely to defect and return to
Czechoslovakia. Thus on November 27, 1984, the day before they were
scheduled to fly to Switzerland, Koecher and his wife were
arrested in New York
City. The arrest of the two agents was released to the
media.

It soon emerged that the FBI had badly blundered. Koecher's
alleged confession was given only after he had been promised
immunity, and was thus invalid. His wife had been denied access to
a lawyer despite frequent requests for one. With little concrete
evidence, it appeared that Koecher had a good chance of being
acquitted.

Not long after this became apparent, Koecher was the victim of
an attempted stabbing by an unnamed inmate while in prison. The
inmate lunged at Koecher with a pair of scissors and would probably
have severely wounded or killed him if not for the intervention of
the then president of the Hells Angels, who was in the cell next
door to Koecher in the high security facility. The two had
frequently conversed and grown friendly. Koecher thus escaped
unharmed. The disappearance of his assailant after the attack has
led Koecher to accuse American security officials of trying to have
him killed. The CIA and FBI deny this charge.

Koecher, worrying about his own safety, sent through his lawyer
a request to the KGB chairman that he be part of a prisoner
exchange with the Soviets. KGB chairman Kryuchkov
agreed, and so did the prosecutor’s office, concerned about the
embarrassing chance of an acquittal. Thus in February 11, 1986,
Koecher and his wife were part of a nine person exchange at Glienicke
Bridge in Berlin, of which
the most prominent member was noted dissident Anatoly Shcharansky.

Koecher returned to Czechoslovakia to a hero's welcome and was
given a house and a Volvo car as a reward for his services. He was
also given a cushy employment at the Prognostic Institute, where he
shared an office with Václav Klaus, the future Czech president.
It is said that Koecher played an organizing role in the early days
of the Velvet Revolution (1989), as he was
seen by U.S. journalists issuing orders at the Laterna Magika
theatre. Koecher denied any involvement in the Velvet Revolution,
stating that U.S. journalists must have mixed him up with the then
unknown Václav Klaus, who had a similar appearance.[1]

The fall of communism has seen him fall from
prominence, with the exception of his denied involvement in the Princess Diana investigation
in Vienna. He continues to live in the Czech Republic in relative obscurity.
His wife, Hana Koecher, made the headlines in the Czech Republic,
when she was fired from her new job as a translator for the British
Embassy in Prague. The British were completely unaware of her
espionage past until a Czech newspaper reporter notified them.